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The Committee notes the information communicated by the Government in response to its previous observation and following the discussion that took place at the Committee on the Application of Standards of the International Labour Conference in June 2006. It notes, in particular, that the wage arrears in the public sector affect 23,000 officials, and that following strikes initiated by the Trade Union of Central African Workers (USTC), the Government has set up two tripartite committees, one in charge of surveying the amount of the wage arrears, and another in charge of studying the question of personnel promotion frozen since 1985. The Committee notes that the outcome of the work of the two committees will be communicated in due course and that, as regards the preparation of the new Labour Code, a review of the draft text has been undertaken by the General Directorate of Labour.

The Committee notes with regret that the information transmitted by the Government is very limited. The Government confines itself to indicating the number of public officials affected by the problems of the wage arrears, whereas before the Conference Committee it had indicated that the committee which was set up and which had nearly completed its work, was responsible for determining the amount of accumulated arrears and to formulate proposals on this matter. The Committee notes that no new measures have been taken since the last session of the Conference in order to resolve the problem of wage arrears in the public sector.

The Committee recalls once again, as the Committee on the Application of Standards underlined in June, that the payment of wages in full and on time is an important workers’ right and an absolute prerequisite for healthy employment relations, economic progress and social welfare. It once more stresses the importance of this Convention that bears in a most tangible and elementary manner on the welfare of the workers and their families. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take, without further delay, all necessary measures to assess the total amount of the wage debt in the public sector and to bring to an end the wage crisis which persists in the country.

[The Government is asked to reply in detail to the present comments in 2007.]